In which we enter a brave new world...

What with one thing and another, I haven't managed to post anything much very foodie recently. I shall try to make amends with telling you what I plan to cook at some point this weekend but in the meantime, a brief diversion:

So - I am going freelance. Not for me the 9-5, the Clapham omnibus (or rather, the no.52 bus from Victoria up to Ladbroke Grove), the 6.42am starts; I am braving the world of the solitary home-worker. Actually it's all looking rather good - I am soon to be a Kitchen Queen, a prospect that thrills me as someone who lives to cook and also has a worrisome interest in the layout other people's houses. Simply put I teach people to cook in their own homes. I will be an Educator. Although - as MCD pointed out - as someone who might live to cook, but also can barely step foot into the kitchen without having some kind of accident or another, it might be best practice to allow them to handle the sharp objects.

I am also going back to my roots and working in the much-loved local bookshop for a couple of days a week. I used to work in Ottakars before it was bought out by big, bad Waterstone's wolf and I started my London life working in a psychoanalytic bookshop on Gloucester Road, so I have form. And I can embrace my creeping inclination to be Ash from Don't Ask Me Why.

I'm also pushing the food writing - I'm officially a hack for hire, so if anyone out there's looking for a food writer (or indeed any other sort) rather well-versed in SEO and websites, email me. Self-interested promotion now over.

But back to the point of the piece, which was my thoughts on what to eat this weekend. I shall roast some butternut squash, cut into cubes, then toss with sliced, seared pigeon breast and chicken livers, spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes. The pan I use to cook the meat in will be deglazed with a little sherry vinegar and finely chopped garlic and a little walnut oil, then I shall pour the dressing over the other ingredients. Then (I feel like a magician) I shall top the whole with a version of pangrattato - those crisp fried breadcrumbs mixed with some very finely chopped rosemary and some orange zest.

In my head, it's a visual and oral wowser. I shall let you know what reality is like. If I can make it look pretty, I might even treat you to a photo.

PS: There's an idea I came across recently for butternut squash I'll pass on. You make a stock sugar syrup (water and sugar) and infuse with rosemary. You roast butternut squash in the oven until tender, then pour over the syrup for the last 10 minutes or so. The result should be deeply golden caramelised butternut squash. I will give it a go at some point, but if anyone gets there first, let me know what happens.

India Knight's thoughtful article on blogging

India Knight's article in The Sunday Times Magazine this weekend was wonderful, thoughtful and perfectly summed up what an entire cyber-nation of women bloggers are feeling and thinking right now; ie, that the internet - rather than being the preserve of some teccy-minded, binary-talking dudes in California - can be harnessed for good as well as evil. That blogging has lent a veritable megaphone to those who feel like they're stumbling about the wilderness toute seule, with no-one listening to what they've got to say.

She also makes the point that people aren't just using blogs for banality and moribund thoughts from the morass, but rather these are intelligent, thoughtful, blogs revealing - rather, I like to think, in the manner of Jane Austen -the small, intimate details of lives well- or not-so-well lived. To continue the thought, it's surely this ability of many, many brilliant bloggers - and check the blog roll on the right for current favourites - to paint a portrait of everyday life in such a way that makes your heart ache (A Life Reclaimed-sad, brave and uplifting), snort out loud with laughter (wonderful Emma of Belgian Waffling manages to do both with every post), think more closely about an alien subject (Tania Kindersley's ability to make American politics sound like a must-know) or even share the seemingly mundane and innately female - recipes, childcare tips and so on.

The thing is, I think we all feel we're a bit on our own in this dog-eat-bitch-eat-dog world and the connection of blogging simply enables us to feel less alone; that we're not simply howling into the darkness

The only book to be reading at the moment... if you're a woman, and even if you're not

Excuse me for this stunningly breathless review of my latest obsession - and for once it's nothing to do with food. (And Tania and Sarah, if you're reading this, I did try to spare your blushes...) - but if you haven't read Backwards in High Heels, go buy it now - and in a proper bookshop if you can. We all have to do our bit... (I've given the amazon link for the synopsis, but you know...)

It's a series of intelligent, beautifully and elegantly written treatises on what it means to be female, even slightly feminist and proud in the 21st century - and as someone who just poddled along, unthinking of what it really means - this book was a revelation. Yes there's men and love and marriage, but there's also politics, motherhood, philosophy, food (hoorah!) and almost any topic you can think of. It's learning lightly worn and education dressed up in a party dress. Buy it now!

And if you want to read a blog that actually does educate and stimulate - unlike this one - I've listed their blog on the right over there. Subscribe - it's involving, lucid and informative.